Amusing but not easy
Flaubert's tale encompassing just about all of human folly...no, I mean knowledge, is amusing but not the easiest book to read. Most of the famous people he refers to were unknown to me (I had heard of Haussmann, Spinoza, and a few others), but there are dozens if not hundreds of people (writers, historians, scientists, philosophers) referred to. Yet I still enjoyed the ironic humor and I think I got the points he was making, even if I couldn't appreciate all the details. The two heroes do a mad dash through human knowledge, trying to master something, and find that there are so many contradictions and errors in every book they take up, so that they give up each area of study in turn. I found much that was amusing and much to think about.